Chapter 14 · The Cabin She Left Behind

Cain tore his hand from the church wall. Stone cracked under his palm, and black blood slid over his knuckles.

"Move," he said.

His eyes were more gold than human. His fingers jerked toward claws, then curled into a fist. Behind him, Rex groaned on the floor, one arm locked around his ribs.

"You can barely stand," I said.

"I said move."

The order should've made me angry. Instead, I stared at the dark veins crawling up Cain's forearm. The church had burned him from the inside out, and he was still trying to drag me away from it.

Mara was gone. Her weapons were gone too. The side door swung open behind us, leaving a strip of daylight across the floor.

She'd gone north.

To find my mother.

My dead mother.

"Ivy." Cain caught my wrist, right over the glowing mark. His palm was hot, but his grip shook. "Can you walk?"

I pulled against him. "Let go."

"Not until you answer."

"Yes. I can walk."

He released me, but his fingers dragged across my skin before they fell away. That tiny touch sent heat up my arm.